Stained Glass
by SevenForASecret
Summary: Earth 41, where Kal-El's pod never crashed, and Kara Zor-El is raised by two superheroes. In this Earth, it is 2012, and Oliver Queen has just returned to Star City, and taken up the role of a hooded vigilante...except he's about to be joined by someone a little more...out of this world.
1. Chapter 1: Fighting Trousers

_2003_

"Remind me why we're doing this again?" Ted Kord demanded, as he hiked along the fields.

"Fame, Ted."Michael Carter replied. "Fame and fortune and the future of Kord Industries!"

"Right." Ted replied, blowing a strand of hair out of his face. He tapped on the device that he had spliced together from remnants of Michael's future tech and his own experiment, tracking the alien ship that seemed to have crash-landed. "Well, we better get there before anyone else if we want it. Double time."

"It's an escape pod." Michael pointed out, as they approached, putting a little extra speed on. "I think there's someone inside!"

"Michael, wait!" Ted called, running after the irritating time-traveller. "You don't know what could be in…"

Booster Gold was never one for ignoring impulse, and before Ted could reach him he was reaching into the pod and pulling out...a girl. Ted stopped stock still, staring at the sight. "Well," He said with a sigh. "Guess that's one way to get around the legalities of adopting when you're partner's from the twenty-fifth century."

* * *

 _2011_

"Kara, are you sure you want to work at Queen Consolidated?" Michael demanded. "You studied at Stanhope and VUHC. You should be working in the lab with your dad, instead of being in the secretarial pool."

Kara Zor-El, or as she was known on Earth, Kara Carter-Kord, pushed her glasses out of her eyes with a sigh. "Yes, I'm sure, Dad." She frowned at him. "That's the third time you've asked."

"Yeah, well, you don't have to deal with your dad sulking. I'm supposed to be the fun dad, and now I'm stuck with a checklist. A _checklist_ , Starshine. Ted _actually made a checklist._ " Michael said, still sounding poleaxed, pulling on a piece of her hair. "He hasn't been this bad since you moved out and got this apartment."

"I'll bring doughnuts over after work." Kara promised. "It won't be forever. Just to get some more experience on my resume."

"You got your comm, in case you need something?" Michael checked.

Kara held up her necklace of a gold beetle, which could double as a communicator. "Check."

"Glasses working well?"

"Check." Kara replied, with a grin, tapping the glasses that helped prevent sensory overload.

"Phone?"

Kara held up her phone. "Check."

" _Other_ phone?"

"Check." Kara replied, with an eyeroll. "I'll be fine, Dad. Walter Steele isn't Carapax."

"Okay then." Michael said with a firm nod. "Go out there and make your money, Kara, and if you bring any leads home for your dear old dads on some good investments, well, we won't complain."

Kara gave him a grin. "I'm going to be some assistant to an assistant, but who knows."

* * *

 _2012_

The six men saw the helicopter pad as their means of escape, their means of getting away from _him_ , and getting away from the consequences of their theft. Oliver couldn't permit that. Marcus Redmond had defrauded the weakest and most vulnerable in Starling City, in _his_ city, for his own greed.

Oliver took a deep breath, centered himself, and knew exactly what he had to do. He had to make him give that money back. And he would, because this was his city, and he was going to take it back.

One name at a time.

* * *

Women who had been cheated on knew the signs of cheating. Kara, who had been raised by the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, knew all the signs of a vigilante superhero. Even if they had moved to Star City to go legit, sometimes her dads couldn't resist running off to Hub City or Blüdhaven, she had even heard rumors about Gotham. If anyone was an expert in superheroes it was her. She was 96% sure that the long-lost Queen heir was actually the mysterious man in the hood who had grabbed headlines. She had met Oliver Queen once before his accident, at some mixer when she had been home from Stanhope. Back then he had just been another irritating playboy and she was beyond his notice except as rich, blonde, and pretty. Now though, something was different.

She just wasn't sure how to help, and part of her wanted to help. It was the same part of her that secreted her dads' prototypes and toys and wished that they would take her crime fighting when they went. She never asked, though. She didn't want to get in the way. She listened, though, from the balcony of her teenage bedroom, legs dangling between the bars. If she focused she could hear every _snik_ of the bowstring. It was one secret she kept which did not belong to her in any sort of way, and she guarded it close.

"Hey, Starshine, what are you doing here?" Michael Carter asked, coming to kneel beside Kara on the balcony.

"How'd you know I was here?" Kara asked instead, letting her mind whirl, without moving her eyes, as if she was watching something fascinating.

"You triggered the alarms on the balcony, Kara." Michael chuckled. "You really thought you knew where all your dad's tricks are?"

"Perish the thought." Kara chuckled. She sighed, slightly, not knowing how to start. "The guy in the hood is out there, right now, making a difference, stopping corruption. He, you, dad...all of you do these things and you're all just...human."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't you go impugning my honor, calling your old man _just_ anything, young lady."Michael joked, budging her shoulder with his. "We know you wanna get out there, Kara. We've just been waiting for you to decide." He huffed. "And we're retired."

"Dad would lose it." Kara argued, rolling her eyes at the retired remark, but otherwise ignoring it. They tried, often, until they got the next idea. "You know he would."

"I'm not saying Ted won't load you down with every gadget and gizmo he can fashion." Michael chuckled. "But he'll accept it, even if he wishes you would just live a normal life. You're not exactly subtle with those wistful sighs when we leave."

"You know I can't be normal." Kara said, softly. "People start looking too closely if I'm too good at things."

"You could research with your dad at Kord…" Michael started.

"Research what?" Kara asked. "I nearly outed myself at Vandermeer because the science I learned before I came here is too advanced. "If anything I researched caught military attention…"

Michael Carter had sought fame and fortune, a legacy, a place in history, for a very long time. He had never considered just how much Kara had to hide in that light before. "Well, there's the business side, you're learning that, and you can settle down and have a family someday - not that I'm ready to be a granddad yet."

"I can't do that either." Kara negated again. "I had a boyfriend at Stanhope, once. He was sweet and I let myself get caught up in it. Philosophical talks over coffee, date nights…"

"Not sure I want to be hearing about this." Michael warned her.

"We made out." Kara admitted, ignoring his squirming. "It might have gone further, but I lost it. I lost control for just a second, and broke his shoulder blade." She gave one of those aforementioned yearning sighs. "I can't lose control, not for a minute. I can't...I can't _be_ with a human. I can't risk it."

Michael returned one of her sighs with one of his own. "Come on, Starshine, I have something to show you."

Grumbling to herself, Kara followed him into the house, and then into the secret lair. Or, as she had always called it, the Blue and Gold Club. They walked through the training room, to one of the gadget closets. Michael stopped, looked back at her, and sighed. "Your dad is going to kill me for showing you this, but I think it's time."

"Time for _what?_ " Kara demanded.

"This!" Michael flung the cabinet open, and there, was a suit.

Kara gasped and before she could help herself, was reaching out to touch it. It was blue and gold, the body of the suit made of the same kind of futuristic armor as her dads. Blue, like Blue Beetle's suit, but with the gold triangle and shoulders of Booster's suit with the House of El Crest, in blue, proudly replacing the blue star. Her fingers traced the symbol reverently, a part of Krypton and herself, on display. Her fingers ran over the material, quantum, no doubt, until she hit metal.

"Your aunt would have wanted you to have it." Michael murmured. "We based it on her old Goldstar uniform, with plenty of improvements, but the belt is yours now."

Kara swallowed hard, tears pricking her eyelids as she looked down at the gold boots. "This is…"

"I know." Michael replied, slinging an arm over her shoulders. "I'll have Skeets pack it up for you. For now, we're going to train. Get into your sweats, we're going into the sun room."

Ted Kord never knew what to expect when he got home. Sometimes it was futuristic strays, sometimes it was random loot on his floor, sometimes it was his husband asleep over the dining table in fuzzy bunny slippers. This was the first time he came home to find his husband and their daughter beating the crap out of each other, in the room he had designed to dampen Kara's solar-powered abilities through red sun lamps.

"Did you eat the last potsticker again, Booster?" Ted snarked at them. "You know how territorial Kara is over her potstickers."

"Nah, Ted." Michael chuckled, evading a kick by dancing away. "Kara had a bad day, needed to get some frustration out."

Ted sighed, watching for a few minutes. "If you're going to teach her to spar, at least teach her not to play Western Union." He humphed, taking the invisible cue to jump in and teach better form.

"And you're not even in your fighting trousers." Michael gasped, in false amazement. "And that move is definitely not in the Queensbury rules."

* * *

Oliver was struggling with the switch back to real life more than he had anticipated. He had plans that had originally included Queen Consolidated, but if he was honest, he struggled with seeing Walter. He hadn't anticipated the relationship between the CFO and his mother. He had spent so long focused on his father, and living up to all that Robert Queen had asked of him that his mother's marriage felt like a deeper betrayal.

And if he was thinking about that betrayal, he didn't have to feel the weight his father had placed on him, and the betrayal he felt himself. Robert, for giving Oliver the job of fixing the city _he_ had broken, and then for leaving him, and not just for leaving him, but for leaving him alone in hell.

"Queen Consolidated's success of late is a result of its targeted diversification. We have been making impressive inroads in cutting-edge fields like bio-tech and clean energy." Walter was saying, and Oliver _tried_ to focus.

The problem was, his throat got clogged up with emotion and he felt the salt of the air again, despite himself.

Turning to the pretty blonde in the butter yellow cardigan, he smiled. "Excuse me? Can I get a sparkling water, or something cold, please?"

"Ah yes." Walter said, as the woman stood. "Oliver, I'd like you to meet Kara. She's going to be your personal assistant from now on." Walter smiled congenially. "Kara, this is Oliver."

"We've met before." Kara said with a smile, holding out her hand to Oliver. "But it was only once, and a lifetime ago. It's nice to meet you again, Mr. Queen."

Oliver blinked. He had no idea where he would have met this girl before, and wondered if she had been some nameless conquest before the Gambit. "I'm sorry, I don;'t remember you, Kara." He admitted. "And I'm not sure why I'd need an assistant."

"That's something Walter and I want to discuss with you, Oliver, come sit." Moira asked, placing a hand on her son's shoulder and ignoring Kara as she made her excuses to go get his drink.

The last thing Oliver wanted to do was sit. It felt like a vulnerability, and if there was one thing he could not afford to do in this room, it was to be vulnerable. He couldn't explain that to his mother, however. "Mom, it makes me nervous when you ask me to sit down."

* * *

Kara watched as Moira and Walter left the office, passing her and the perfectly chilled glass of club soda. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the office before Oliver could leave, holding it out to him. "I broke open my stash of the world's best club soda for you." She held it out to him. "You look like you need it."

Oliver, who had been running his hands through his hair and trying to make some sort of decision, startled, swallowed and took the glass. "Thanks, Kara."

"I get it." Kara said, sitting on her desk. "My dads want me to be working in a lab or behind a desk at the family business. They sulked for days when I announced I was going to work here, get some experience under my belt." She chuckled. "I think dad's paranoid someone will actually look at my resume and realize I should be in R&D and not be an assistant. We're not rivals, per se, but…" She shrugged.

Oliver watched her in a very still way, like a predator. "Family business?" He repeated.

"Kord Industries." Kara said, by way of explanation. She leaned back slightly. "I didn't feel comfortable just jumping in when I'd never worked in the business, just because I was the boss's daughter. We've both seen how companies can flounder like that. So, I came here. I started as an assistant to an assistant, worked my way up to secretary, then assistant in a department, then assistant to a junior executive." She smiled. "Now I'm supposed to be your assistant, but I get the feeling you don't want that."

"Nothing against you." Oliver assured her, taking a deep drink from the glass. "I don't know enough about running a business."

Kara pursed her lips in thought. "You could do what I've done. Start out low on the totem pole. No-one pays attention to the low and mid-level executives. You could learn the ropes on the job, let everyone go on as they do...and just watch. Learn the business from the inside without all the pressure of being a top executive. Cushy office, cushy chairs, maybe a window because you're family, but no real responsibility. Then when you're ready, you can push ahead." She grinned. "I know everyone."

She shook her head. "Or, you can go back to what you were, and have paparazzi, reporters, and gold diggers going through your trash and stalking you. The family pressure won't let up that way, though."

Oliver blinked at her. "How do you know…?"

Kara grinned at him. "No one wants to see cardigans, sundresses, club soda, and Mad Men marathons in the paper. They want Kardashians." She slid off the desk. "I may not be as rich as you, but Kord Industries is still a major business." She reached into her purse and scribbled her number on a post-it. "Here's my cell. Feel free to give me a call if you want to talk. Otherwise...maybe I'll see you around."

Oliver looked down at the neon yellow post-it. He had gotten a lot of girls' numbers before, in a lot of different ways, but this time...he actually thought she just wanted to give him an outlet. She had let him listen, not demanded he talk about the island or why he felt inadequate. She had given him a way to hide. It wasn't a come-on, or an invitation back to her place. It was something else. Friendship, maybe?


	2. Chapter 2: Fire of Unknown Origin

If what Kara was offering was friendship, well, if he was honest, Oliver was never too good at that. Before the _Gambit_ his circle was small, and he tended to sabotage it a lot. Tommy was the friend that really stuck by him. Tommy...and Laurel. He knew he should follow his own advice, avoid Laurel, and let her get on with her life, safe, but...she had been one of the few things to get him through the island, and that was easier said than done.

Maybe they could be friends? Just friends. She'd never trust him again, and he didn't blame her. He didn't deserve someone as good as her, especially not after his screw-up with Sara.

...After getting Sara killed.

Ice cream was friendly, right?

* * *

"No cape!" Booster Gold said, flatly, as Supergirl walked into the training room; no red sunlight this time...with his old cape on her shoulders. "You can't handle the cape. You have to _earn_ the cape."

"He's saying that because he nearly got strangled by it when an enemy got ahold of it." Blue Beetle snarked, from his seat outside the training circle. "But he has a point, no cape."

"All right." Kara agreed, sulking a little as she removed it. "So what are we doing today?"

"Training." Booster replied. "With powers. You're doing better without them, but using them in combat is a lot different than heating up your white chocolate mochas."

Supergirl somehow manage to resist the urge to point out that she often heat visioned his coffee too, and took up a defensive stance.

"Oh, and when you've gone rounds with Booster, then you're facing the Beetle." Blue Beetle commented from his seat, popcorn in hand.

Supergirl whirled to face him. "But you don't have shields like Da…." Kara hit the floor as an energy ball hit her in the back.

"Lesson One: Don't turn your back on an enemy." Booster Gold said, smirking.

"Lesson Two: Don't get distracted by someone who isn't your enemy yet, but keep aware of them." Blue Beetle added.

"Lesson Three: Never underestimate a human opponent just because you're Kryptonian." Booster finished. "Now get up and try again."

* * *

Oliver realized he had three options.

He could do what Laurel suggested, and say no to his mother. What's more, he could present the idea to the entirety of the city that he was unchanged by the island and put all his energy into his secret, or could do what his mother wanted, and take a place of 'leadership,' within Queen Consolidated. That would mean long board meetings, stock portfolios, and company dinners that would eat into any free time he had and curtail his mission - but he could improve the company and make it a force for good.

Those were the two options he had originally seen. However, Kara, his new supposed assistant had offered a third possibility. A compromise, of sorts. He could take a smaller role at the company, work with the people instead of the board, which would require less hours, leaving him time to do his real work. And hey, if he had an assistant, he could delegate, couldn't he?

Taking a deep breath, he left his room and walked toward the library, where his mother and Walter often were after dinner. He had something to suggest to them, after all.

* * *

Kara had actually dressed up for the dedication, a bit. She wasn't attending as an employee, but as a member of Star City's elite, and also, slightly as a scientist. That, however, didn't mean that positioned between her dads, she wasn't smiling proudly at Oliver Queen where he was sitting on the stage, and when he stood to speak, she took a deep breath in solidarity.

"I want to welcome all of you for coming today." He said, looking over the crowd. "And to thank you, because we're here to break ground on the new Robert Queen Memorial Applied Sciences Center. I wish he could be here with us, but unfortunately, I'll have to do. I've never been much of a legacy myself. I'm not half the man my father was, but I hope that the scientists of Star City can make advances to make our city and our world a better one here."

He reached down and took a real shovelful of dirt, and tossed it to the side as people applauded, Kara felt as though her smile would break her face, especially, as everyone was leaving the site, Oliver walked by with a smile, and remarked: "See you Monday, Kara."

* * *

Working at Queen Consolidated was...different. Oliver had very little in the past five years to help him deal with the business. He started by setting up his medium-sized office, which was placed quite a distance from the HR department. He smirked at the thought. It was almost as if his mother didn't trust him.

His office was as inherently normal as he could make it. He even had a plant. Granted, Kara had gifted him the plant on his first day, with a smile, and a comment that he needed something to brighten up the generic office. She was a miracle worker with the staff; she knew everyone, and served as a sort of early warning system. He could judge by how someone acted when Kara greeted them, whether he would be polite and charming, or an entitled asshole. Generally, the board members got the latter, while the general populace received the former.

Kara knew everything going on, names and birthdays, who had babies due, whose son had just gotten into college, and she whispered it all in his ear, making him look like he cared. Which he did! He did care, he was just...focused on other things, and while he hadn't really wanted an assistant, Kara was good. His coffee was always hot, his lunch breaks were always long, and she never asked questions.

In fact, she was a little _too_ good. It made him suspicious. His searches, however, turned up nothing. Kara Michelle Carter-Kord, adopted by Michael Carter and Ted Kord at age thirteen, after her family was killed. Some sources conflicted on whether or not Michelle Carter was her biological mother, but he couldn't find any other names and the records of the adoption were sealed. Graduated early from high school, Bachelor's from Stanhope, Masters from Vandermeer in Hub City. Some image crawls found photos from a few parties, usually with one of her fathers, one or two of a young Kara hanging off the neck of man in a long brown coat. None of it seemed suspicious, but that didn't allay Oliver's concerns. His mission was too important not to be sure.

Even if she somehow managed to bring him perfect pastries.

* * *

Kara was winding up the day, texting her dads to tell them to have a good trip as they headed off to Gotham. She was planning on heading over to their house to train in the sun room, as she packed up for the night.

"Kara!" Oliver said, as he left his office, arm slung around his best friend, Tommy Merlyn. "Come out with us to the bar tonight. I haven't had a chance to thank you for all your hard work."

"That's...uh...really not necessary, Mr. Queen." Kara murmured, standing awkwardly. "I wouldn't want to impose."

" _Oliver_ , Kara. Mr. Queen was my father, and it reminds people my name's on the building." Oliver reminded her.

"Sorry." Kara apologised. She usually didn't make mistakes like that, but something about Oliver made her nervous.

"More to the point, a pretty girl is never an imposition." Tommy said smoothly. "Unless you have a date?"

Kara snorted at that, despite herself. "Not unless you count takeout and borrowing my dads' private gym, since they're on their way to Gotham."

"Then you have no excuse. Come on, Kord, you work too hard." Tommy teased.

"Oh, all right, fine." Kara replied with a laugh. "Why not?"

The choice of a bar instead of a club was Oliver's suggestion to Tommy to keep Kara more comfortable, or so he whispered, but the fact was, he felt he could observe her better in a bar, sitting between he and Tommy, than he could in a club where ultimately more people would be trying to claim his attention.

So far, it was working, as she had relaxed, chatting with Tommy about his day, while he sat back and refilled her long island iced teas. "Do you like working for QC, Kara?"

Kara turned her head and gave him a smile, though her eyes were as sharp as ever. "It's interesting."

"Hey, no talking about work!" Tommy complained. "We're here to have fun!"

Kara turned to Tommy and giggled. "Sure, Tommy, I didn't mean to leave you out."

Oliver was about to ask her another question, when the television over the bar broke into the conversation: " _Breaking News: Flight 225 to Gotham City is experiencing loss of altitude. The pilot seems to be circling the city after apparent engine failure."_

Kara dropped her glass as her eyes flicked to the screen, and then to the two men. "Did she say…" She was digging for her phone in an instant, checking for messages. "I have to go...I'm sorry."

Before Oliver could even stand, she was out of her seat and running out the door.

"Holy shit." Tommy said, eyes wide.

Oliver swallowed hard, Maybe he was a jinx after all.

* * *

Kara ducked down the dingy alley beside the bar, already dialing on her phone. Unsurprisingly, she got no reply from either of her dads, but as she peeked off her light blue oxford, she reached new levels of frustration with the third call she tried, still running. "Rip, where are you? Do you not _know_ what's happening? Get your ass over here! Dad's in trouble!"

Not knowing if her half-brother would get the message, she took a deep breath, and stripped down to her Supergirl uniform, ripped her hair out of the ponytail, and took off.

This was not how she wanted to start. This was not the first rescue she wanted to do. What was wrong with a kitten in a tree? She pressed herself further and faster than she ever had in flight before, digging her nails into her palms. The stakes were too high. She _couldn't_ fail.

One of the engines disconnected as the other caught aflame, and Kara barely managed to put her hands up as steel and flames moved past her face. Putting on an extra burst of speed, she grasped hold of the wing, attempting to level the plane off, but it wasn't enough, so she moved to the fuselage, pressing her body against it for as much leverage as possible, finally getting the plane to level.

Then, grinning with adrenaline, she looked ahead, only to see Star Bridge up ahead. "Oh for…" She moved further back toward the center of mass, and pushed with all her might, feeling and hearing the steel buckle as she attempted to turn the plane enough that it wouldn't impact the plane. She let out a roar of strain, and then she and the plane hit the water.

Ted Kord was glued to the scene outside his window, watching for some sign, any sign. He knew what it felt like to hit water from that high up, and with the extra mass of the plane, he wasn't going to breathe until…

"Teddy!" Michael hissed beside him as a pale hand came out onto the wing, followed by the appearance of Kara's head, hair darkened with soot. She was panting, but fine, and the fear clenched in his chest let go in a rush of relief.

"She's barefoot!" Michael said in an undertone, chuckling, as he, like everyone else, snapped pictures.

"Must not have had time for the boots." Ted whispered back. "What _are_ you doing?"

"Baby's first rescue. You bet your beetle I'm getting pictures." Michael hissed back."These'll be worth a fortune someday."

Kara gave them a smile, slightly quartered away, offering an almost perfect view of the crest on her chest, and as the spotlights came down, she bent her knees and then flew off.


	3. Chapter 3: Toxic

"What the hell was that?" Oliver asked out loud, as a flying...someone...saved the plane, eyes wide. "Did people start flying while I was away?"

"Oh good, you saw that too. I was beginning to think there was something in my drink." Tommy said, sounding just as awed. "And...no, that's a new one, but hey, at least your assistant's dads will be okay."

"Kara…" Oliver said, slowly, grasping onto the excuse and grabbing his jacket. "Come on, we should go make sure she's okay."

"Oliver Queen, worrying for someone he barely knows?" Tommy laughed. "Man, what happened to you on that island?"

"A lot." Oliver replied. "Come on." If he was honest, his concern wasn't really for Kara. The idea that someone had strange powers in his town, abilities he couldn't account for; that put him on edge. He had to know what was going on, and Kara, well, if he could make her feel better while doing his job, it was more than he had managed with his family thus far.

* * *

Kara knew she should go home and wait. She _knew_ the people were safe. She knew her dads were safe - at least in her head. Her heart, however, struggled with that. She had come to this planet to try and raise her cousin, but she had arrived late, and for all her powers and the resources of Kord Industries, she had never found him. Aside from one adopted half-brother who was from the future and spent more time bouncing around time than anywhere else, her dads were all she had. If she lost them, well...it's not like she could move in with her brother. Until she touched them, she wouldn't be able to stop worrying.

Super-speed left her hair dry, if dirty, and let her change back. A purposeful fall in the alley covered for that and ruined one of her favorite blouses, but in short minutes, she was in the crowd, pushing the police tape with the other families.

Before long, the passengers were being fished out by boats. Kara was so focused on watching each person, that the hand on her shoulder actually startled her. "Is everyone okay?" Oliver asked, looking down at her.

"I don't know." Kara admitted. "They're not saying anything yet...but it's better than it could have been."She smiled a watery smile at him and Tommy. "You boys didn't have to follow me here."

"Hey, it was nothing." Tommy replied, nodding to her outfit. "Though we should have offered you a ride. Would have, if you hadn't rushed out."

"Tripped in the alley." Kara joked. "Might need a tetanus shot. Don't really know what's wrong with me." She chuckled nervously.

"You were upset." Oliver said with a nod. "I know what this is like. I...wanted to make sure you're okay." He gave her a grin. "And even if I never let a pretty girl run out on me before, I don't know what I'd do in the morning if you didn't bring me those sticky buns."

Kara laughed, but a flash in her peripheral vision had her turning. "Oh, thank Rao." She murmured under her breath, relaxing. Sure enough, Ted Kord and Michael Carter were in one of the boats, apparently with someone on a stretcher. "They're okay." She said louder, feeling like she could breathe again. "I couldn't do that again."

"Do what?" Tommy asked, frowning.

"My dads adopted me...after I was the only one to survive the fire where my family died." Kara choked out. It wasn't the truth, obviously, but it was close. Krypton had burned while she watched, until the shockwave rattled the pod and knocked her into the Phantom Zone.

"I'm sorry for prying." Tommy said, awkwardly.

"It's fine." Kara dismissed, taking a deep breath, realizing that unconsciously she had started leaning against Oliver. "This whole thing's been a bit of a flashback." The adrenaline of the rescue had worn off, and the engine that had flown at her as it disconnected from the plane had resurfaced in her head, the air turbulence and the feeling of the flames against her body. "I'm fine."

Oliver nodded, his voice calm and modulated in her ear, matching his overly slow and steady heartbeat. Unknowingly she had matched her breathing to it. "You are and so are they."

"Thank you." Kara managed, looking at two of the richest scions of Star City. "Both of you. For being here, when you didn't have to be."

"Anything to help a damsel in distress." Tommy replied, with a self-deprecating smile.

Kara broke away from the steadying warmth behind her to hug him. "You're a good man, Tommy Merlyn."

"Do me a favor and tell everyone that, okay?" Tommy said, hugging her back.

"You got it." Kara replied, smiling. She pulled away and turned to Oliver. "Oliver, I…"

Before she could say anything though, the moment was interrupted.

* * *

"Yes, yes, we're fine. Now let us go see our daughter and go offer your medical help to someone who actually _needs_ it." Ted Kord grumped.

Oliver was saved from the awkward moment by the arrival of Kara's fathers. She squealed and threw herself at them, somehow managing to wrangle the two men into a single hug.

"Oof, watch it, Starshine." Michael Carter joked. "You're not thirteen anymore."

"I was so _worried._ " Kara admitted. "If I hadn't seen the plane on the TV of the bar…" She trailed off, swallowing hard.

"We're never flying public again, I'll tell you that." Michael muttered.

Ted took over the hug, and squeezed his Kryptonian daughter tight. "I knew it." He snarked. "We head off to Gotham for a business trip and suddenly you're out bar-hopping. I've heard you sing All That Jazz on karaoke nights." He was doing it mostly to distract her from what might have happened if Supergirl hadn't been there to save the day.

Kara laughed nervously, flushing in embarrassment, and suitably distracted. "You know me. I put the Kara in karaoke, but it was just a drink after work."

"Likely story." Michael put in, giving the two men behind her a steel-eyed glare he had perfected on the likes of The 1,000. "And your friends?"

"Dad." Kara hissed at him, flushing again. "You've met them before."

"It's been quite awhile." Oliver rescued, smiling his diplomatic smile. "Oliver Queen, sir."

"Tommy Merlyn." Tommy followed, holding a hand out to Ted, who seemed, of the pair, less aggressive. "We met at the last fundraiser for Star City General, I believe."

As the two pair of men shook hands, Kara resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but there was still something comforting about it. Maybe there was a kind of normalcy still possible.

* * *

Whatever Oliver felt about the possible dangers someone who could _fly_ and carry a plane could wreak on Star City, he had to admit, that for now, while they were an unknown, that unknown seemed to not be an outright threat. He was concerned more by the more insidious threats carried out on his city, the cancer growing underneath the skin.

Like James Holder.

He was ready to excise this particular tumor when the man dropped dead in front of him.

He startled, turning and firing the way the bullet had come, dodging gunfire as best he could, but all too soon the familiar burst of fire in his bicep meant he was hit. His target was dead, and he was compromised. It was time to leave.

Getting the bullet out was simple enough, and it was far from the first time he had to stitch himself up, but the poison was an unexpected element. He ran for his herbs, feeling his heart pound harder as he grabbed for the pouch of herbs. He had to take it. Had to get the life-saving herbs into his system.

The relief when he did was almost palpable, and then he let go.

Kara didn't _mean_ to listen to Oliver's heartbeat, per se. She learned the heartbeats of everyone she was spent a lot of time with, whether she liked it or not. Once she spent enough time with someone it became easy to pick out changes in that heartbeat. She had learned Oliver's faster than most, because it was so unusual. He had a trained heart, with a slow rhythm, that barely varied, like an endurance runner. It got up to a higher pace when he was off being a hero, but still well within norms.

That was why, when Kara heard it tonight, as she stealthily flew around the city, it startled her, because it shifted into a high gear she had never heard before. Worried the guy in the hood might need help, she followed it, and while the security on the basement slowed her slightly, she had enough gadgets to make short work of it.

When she found him, however, he was unconscious on the floor. A quick sweep told her that he had been shot, and there was an odor that would have been undetectable to anyone else, but it was too faint even to her senses. She didn't want to leave him on the floor, though…

Making a face, Kara tapped into her superspeed and returned a minute later, carrying a couch that her father had claimed to nick off of some king in the twenty-second century, and plopped it down in the cave. She shifted her unconscious boss from the floor onto the couch, and then zipped away again, returning with a brightly coloured quilt, which she placed over him.

Unsure of what else to do, she perched herself on one of the rafters to wait and worry. He and Tommy had been there for her. She would be there for him.

...And not stare at his muscles. That way led only to madness. So, she waited.

When his breathing seemed to be starting to return to normal, she flew for a glass of ice water, and left it by his hand, leaving before he could truly wake. He seemed like he'd be okay.

* * *

Oliver woke with a start and...fell onto the floor? He blinked at it for a moment, trying to place why he had been off of the floor. The last thing he remembered was discovering that the bullet was laced with poison, and the ensuing rush to save himself. Kicking his tangled legs, he realized it was a quilt, and scanning the room, he found the mysterious source of elevation. He had been on a couch.

But how? There was a glass of water, still chilled, sitting by his foot, and he inspected it for a moment, before putting it aside and grabbing another water bottle. It might be lukewarm, but it was _sealed_ , and he knew where it came from.

The fact that someone had gotten into his base of operations worried him. He would have to increase security measures. The fact that whoever it was had not only not harmed him while he was vulnerable, but somehow managed to drag in furniture was both disturbing, disconcerting, and in an odd way, slightly comforting as well. He didn't like people coddling him, barely tolerated people caring for him, even now, but something about the situation added a warm tinge to all his many concerns.

* * *

The thirty-six hours or so since the appearance of the flying woman and her rescue of the plane meant that while the murder of James Holder made the front page, it made only half the page, with speculation on the woman dubbed Supergirl thanks to a trend on Twitter dwarfing it.

Kara couldn't help but feel excited by the press coverage, even if there were editorials claiming her to be some sort of government created robot. She hadn't travelled light years to be an assistant...and maybe, just maybe, if Kal-El was out there, if he was alive...maybe he would come to her? She didn't want to let herself hope, but she couldn't help it. She had failed her baby cousin, after promising she wouldn't. Even if he wasn't alive, though. She could still help people.

Right now, however, she needed to help her boss. "Morning, Oliver." She greeted, conscious of his poisoning, and so modulated her voice down from the usual chirp. "You don't have any appointments until eleven, and there are sticky buns on your desk."

"Thanks Kara." Oliver said, as he passed her desk. He had been dreading early morning appointments. "You're a lifesaver."

"You have no idea." Kara whispered, with a secret smile, that widened as his bodyguard came into the room, and wasn't that just hilarious. "Good morning, Mr. Diggle."

"Good morning, Miss Carter-Kord."

Kara made a face at him. "Just Kara's fine."

"Dig, then." The man responded, and Kara rewarded him with a beaming smile. "We're in the office for the day, Dig, except maybe for lunch, if you want to go."

Dig shook his head. "Not with the way that boy runs off. I gotta stick to him like glue."

Kara giggled, and shook her head, turning back to her assistant duties, which today included running a list of poisons. Just because.


	4. Chapter 4: Titanium

The note was unexpected, pinned to the door to his lair, but considering he had woken up with a new couch and a quilt in his lair, it really shouldn't have surprised Oliver. It was simple, printed instead of script: _'I'd like to meet. I'd like to help you, but even if not, it would be nice to know your plans so that we don't get in each other's way, if that's what you prefer. I'll be on the roof of the Grell Museum this evening.'_ It was signed with the same strange S that the plane-catching woman had worn on her chest.

Oliver didn't like the oddity of a flying woman. He didn't know who she was or what she was capable of, and those unknowns meant that she was dangerous. He had planned to try to find some way to call her out-on his terms, and it left him slightly off-footed that she had taken the opportunity first, or that he was so easily located and identified. Still, she was reaching out, not trying to hide from him, which was probably was the best he could hope for, and he would need someone to run interference for him. If it was someone with a similar secret, well then, if one flipped, the other would go down as well. So, he suited up.

* * *

Kara liked the Grell Museum. It was high-roofed, and the modern look of it reminded her of the gleaming spires of Krypton, allowing for a cozy area in a corner of what amounted to a roof two thirds of the way in, before the rest of the roof twisted up into a spiraling point. The thing was, she had no idea of when Oliver would get the note, let alone if he would even come, so she settled her back against the start of the spire, with a stack of pizzas. Offering food was her best attempt to make things as friendly as possible.

She was a slice into her second pie, when he arrived. She could tell he was trying to be stealthy, coming up the side. "Hi." She said, as friendly as possible, as he approached, bow drawn. "Want some pizza? It's from Mario's."

The last thing Oliver expected was to find the strange woman eating pizza on the roof. He growled, slipping into his vigilante voice. "Who are you?"

Kara sighed, and put her pizza down, standing so they were on somewhat even footing, even though he towered over her. "I believe they're calling me Supergirl." She rolled her eyes at this. "I blame Booster Gold's twitter bot army." She gestured to the slight edge she had been sitting on. "Can we sit? I'll tell you everything you want to know, but it's a long story."

Oliver slowly approached the edge and sat down, keeping his bow in hand, but lowering it. "All right, I'm listening."

Kara took a deep breath. "I'm...an alien."

"An alien." Oliver repeated, doubt in his voice.

Kara nodded. "I was born on the planet Krypton, which has a red sun. Here, under the Earth's yellow sun, I can fly, I have super speed, super strength, x-ray vision, heat vision, ice breath, and I'm bulletproof."

"Uh huh." Oliver murmured, trying to figure out what he thought. He had seen some crazy things since Lian Yu, but aliens?

"You saw me fly." Kara pointed out. She pulled out another piece of pizza, and reheated it with her eyes, making the cooled cheese start to bubble, and handed it to him. "Heat vision."

Oliver stared at the pizza in his hand. "So, if I believe this, why are you here, on Earth?"

Kara took a deep, shuddering breath. "Krypton...we mined it irresponsibly for resources." She admitted. "The core became unstable. As it was breaking apart, my parents put me in an escape pod, bound for Earth. I was thirteen, and my planet was dying. I didn't really understand what was happening. I was….I was supposed to care for my baby cousin when I arrived, but…" She shook her head and swallowed hard. "When the planet exploded it let out a shockwave that threw me into an area known as the Phantom Zone, an anomaly outside the normal flow of time and space. I was there for twenty-four years, before something knocked my pod loose and I landed here, and woke up. I never managed to find Kal. I swore to my parents that I would protect him, and raise him, but I failed."

Despite himself, Oliver felt sorry for the strange woman. He believed her. There was something in her voice that made him believe her story. "That's not your fault." He said, softly. "Even if you had landed at the same time, thirteen is too young to raise a child. I remember when I was thirteen. I don't think I could raise a child _now_ , let alone then."

Kara shook her head, and grabbed another piece of pizza, zapping it briefly, before taking a bite. Stress-eating was good for the soul. "I was found by a couple vigilantes, who adopted me. I tried to just live a normal life, because there are people in the government who know about aliens, and who would use us, or experiment on us." She swallowed hard. "I worry that Kal made it here, but someone like that found him. That they dissected him, or _worse_."

Oliver wished he could offer comfort, but he had seen the atrocities people could and would do. He had done some awful things himself. "What changed?"

Kara sighed, leaning back against the spire more. "A lot of things. I can't _have_ a normal life. I was doing calculus at four, if I brought half the science I knew as a child out...Earth has to develop at it's own speed. It's hard to have a relationship when you can rip a car door off without trying. It's stifling to be normal, to have to lie to everyone." A third slice of pizza disappeared, and Kara smiled as Oliver started to eat his. "A large part of it was you. I knew vigilantes in other cities, of course. I grew up with them. I was never allowed to be involved. Then you come along, my age, human, doing these things, _saving people_ , helping the city and I...I couldn't sit back anymore."

"The plane." Oliver noted. "No human could do that."

"Oh, _Rao_ , the plane." Kara put her face in her hands. "That was utterly unplanned. I was going to start out getting rid of some muggers, but I panicked." She shook her head. "It was like watching Krypton about to blow all over again."

"Why?" Oliver asked, finishing his pizza.

Kara fished her glasses out of a hidden pocket, and slid them on. "Do these help?"

"Kara?" Oliver breathed, the familiarity he had been feeling, clicking into place. He shouldn't have been so comfortable eating something handed to him by an unknown. He shouldn't have believed the story so quickly.

"Kara Zor-El, originally. Daughter of Zor-El of the House of El, and Alura In-Ze, of the House of Ze." She smiled at him. "But here, it's Kara Carter-Kord, executive assistant extraordinaire."

"You know who I am, don't you?" Oliver asked, taking down the hood.

Kara nodded slowly, taking the glasses back off. "A hood and some greasepaint doesn't change your heartbeat. I can find almost anyone I care about through their heartbeats. When I first came here...the expanded senses, everything I could do, it nearly drove me mad. On Krypton, I didn't have any of these powers, and then I could see, hear, smell...everything." She swallowed hard. "My dads would hug me to them, and make me focus on their heartbeats when I lost it. I do it automatically now. It's how I found you the other night. I wasn't spying or anything, but I heard the sudden change in your heartbeat and….I came to help."

"You brought me a _couch_." Oliver remarked, deadpan.

"The floor looked _uncomfortable_. I sat near the ceiling, listening to your vitals. I...was worried." She gave him a wry smile. "I wouldn't have broken in, otherwise. Dads always say it's a giant breach of etiquette, breaking into another's lair."

Oliver laughed at that. "I may need to add vigilante etiquette to those online business courses Walter wants me to take.

"Hey, I got your back." Kara giggled.

Oliver got serious at that. "Kara...I have to think about everything you told me. I've always planned to eventually bring people into my secret, but this is...not what I anticipated. I need to think it over."

Kara deflated with a sigh. "Shall I start interviewing my replacement at QC?"

"No." Oliver said slowly. "No, you're still my assistant at work. I just...I need space here, like this. It's a lot to digest, but as long as you keep my secret, I'll keep yours."

"Of course." Kara replied, though she sounded markedly less perky. "And if you ever need me, just...shout."

* * *

Oliver walked into Queen Consolidated the next day, almost expecting things to be different. It was striking to him just how little had changed. Kara was back at her desk, glasses on and hair tied back, in an unassuming skirt and blouse.

"Your coffee, Oliver." Kara said cheerfully, handing him a piping hot cup of coffee, and well, he knew just how she had managed to keep it hot now, didn't he? "Your first appointment is at ten, and you have that tour with Tommy after your lunch with him at twelve."

The thing was, after going home, sitting in his room by himself, he couldn't help but second-guess. He wanted to believe her, wanted to trust that she was as guileless as she seemed...but even if her story was true, she had hidden the fact she was an alien for how many years? If she could hide that, what else could she hide? He knew personally just how lies stacked, how expectations could hide everything.

Still, she was kind, and he would keep her secret.

"Thank you, Kara. Can I speak to you in my office, please?"

"Sure!" Kara was on her feet, tablet in hand quickly. She was so pleased, he almost felt bad for what he was going to say.

He closed the door behind them and turned to her. "I've thought about what we talked about the other night."

"Okay." Kara said slowly.

"And like I said before, if you keep my secret, I'll keep yours." He let out a breath. "But I'd like to minimize your involvement in my evening activities."

Kara didn't manage to hide the hurt on her face. "Why? Because I'm an alien?"

Oliver didn't want to say yes, but he wouldn't lie to her either. "You're an unknown quality, and this isn't personal."

"Except that's how it feels." Kara said, softly.

"Kara, this isn't...it's not like that. When I came back to clean up the city, my focus was on human threats, corrupt humans, hurting people of my city." He took a deep breath. "That I can handle. That I know _how_ to handle. Now I'm talking to someone who is literally bulletproof." Oliver didn't want to insult her, but he was honest.

"I'm sure that's unnerving, but I'm not trying…"

"I don't get unnerved." Oliver ground out, even though that might have been just a flutter of what he felt. "But when I go up against something new, I push back. Right or wrong, it's what I do, so I'm asking for a little bit of space. I won't get involved in your thing and you don't get involved in mine. I...I need to claw back a sense of normalcy."

Kara's face went cool and stoic, much like his own, and he resisted the urge to wince.

"Yes, sir." She said, crisply. "I brought you chocolate croissants today. Please let me know if you need anything else."

* * *

Kara had thawed over a day and a pint of ice cream, so when Oliver showed up the next day, with a shot up laptop, there was no frostiness in her voice as she greeted him with a new coffee blend.

"You know everyone here at Queen Consolidated, right Kara?" Oliver asked, sipping his coffee.

"Sure, what's up?" Kara replied. "Do I need to add a meeting or…?"

Oliver held up the laptop. "I need someone in IT who can try and recover what's left on this."

"I can do that." Kara said simply, holding out her hands. "I don't know if I'll get everything, but…"

"Kara," he said, gently. "Space, remember?"

"Right." Kara said with a pout. "You want Winn Schott. He's the best we have." The _'other than me,'_ went unsaid.

"Thanks, Kara." He gave her a smile, and walked off, headed down to IT.

"It's not like he has a Masters in biomechanical engineering." Kara muttered to herself. "It's not like that was the equivalent of tinker toys when he was a kid, oh no."

* * *

Winn Schott was about what Oliver expected. He was furiously blogging about something when he walked in and cleared his throat, startling the computer guy. He put on his best smile. "Winn Schott? Hi, I'm Oliver Queen."

Winn's eyes went wide. "Oliver Queen knows my name." He said, voice rising a bit, before it went back down. "I mean, of course Mr. Queen. What...what can I do for you?"

"I'm having some trouble with my computer and Kara told me you were the person to come and see." Oliver learned early in his time at Queen Consolidated that dropping Kara's name sometimes improved his chances. No one seemed to want to hurt the blonde's feelings. Except, apparently, him...not that it was intentional.

Winn's eyes went wide. "She did? I mean, she comes down to play in IT if she gets bored, but she's way better than me."

"She said you were the best we had, here at QC." Oliver said with a smile.

"Wow." Winn repeated. "Okay, let me see."

"I was at the coffee shop and spilled my latte on it." Oliver explained, on the fly as he handed Lawton's laptop over to the nerd.

"Really?" Winn said, holding up the laptop. "Because, uh, dude, these are bullet holes."

"My coffee shop is in a bad neighborhood. If there's anything you can salvage from it, I'll be grateful." Oliver replied.

"Yeah, sure, of course." Winn said, giving him a thumbs up. "If there's anything to get, I'll get it for you."

"Great, thanks." Oliver said with a grin, clapping the man on the shoulder.

Winn watched him leave with wide eyes, before immediately setting to work on the computer.


End file.
